Parents Pull Students Out Of Ivanka Trump Talk

Several parents of high schoolers in Connecticut were not pleased by the first daughter's surprise appearance to talk to their children.

Ivanka Trump arrived at Norwalk Early College Academy, a program at Norwalk High School, on Dec. 18. According to The Hill, members of the program graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree in software engineering.

The president's daughter and official adviser gave a talk on career education. She's been pushing the subject at schools across the nation, News 12 New Jersey reports.

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"To see the passion and enthusiasm for bringing real life skills into a classroom environment but then coupling it with real life experience through internship creates this really beautiful virtuous angle," she said of educating students about future careers.

According to Newsweek, the Trump daughter influenced her father in September to direct the Education Department to invest $200 million into expanding STEM subjects each year. She's expressed a particular interest in getting girls involved in STEM.

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"Right now, girls only make up 22 percent of the computer science field," Ivanka Trump said during a previous talk at Middleburg Community Charter School in Virginia, "but we're going to change that, right, ladies?"

Ivanka Trump was not the only speaker present at the Connecticut high school. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty also arrived to talk to the students.

The member of the first family appeared to be the more controversial speaker. Some of the parents pulled their children out of class when they learned that she would be talking to them, presumably because they disagreed with her or her father's politics.

"This should have been brought to our attention, although I do understand security reasons," said parent Karey Fitzgerald to News 12 New Jersey. "I think we should have had the choice to send our child to school or keep them home."

An alumni of the program also expressed disapproval of the choice of speaker, Newsweek reports.

"Hope the diversity of our students and our large immigrant population doesn't scare her away!" wrote Monica Mercuri on Twitter.

Despite the lost audience members, Ivanka Trump seemed to have enjoyed her speech at the advanced high school. She did not address the walkout and was potentially not aware of it.

"It was an honor to meet so many bright and talented students!" she said on Twitter along with photos of her talking, including a group picture of her smiling with students and staff members.